Friends 'Til the End: 'Til Death Do Us Part
by Kirari13
Summary: Now, with his locket returned and his mind cleared of distractions, Seto longs to plunge into his conscience for the answers he seeks... If that's the case, then why is Crow involved? AUish spinoff. Romance may ensue. Full summary inside.
1. Memories

Summary: One fateful night under the diamond-glazed sky, illuminated by the hardened by capricious moon, a pact was formed. The conspirators agreed to share a bond, without realizing its depths at the time. Now, with his locket returned and his mind cleared of distractions, Seto longs to plunge into his conscience for the answers he seeks... If that's the case, then why is Crow involved? AUish spinoff. Romance may ensue. Warning for OOCness.

Language: English.

Pairing: Crow and Seto.

Themes: Friendship and Hurt/Comfort.

Rating: T (Although the rating may change in the future).

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fragile Dreams or its characters. This tale is purely fan-made and is intended for entertainment purposes only. Individual items are not available for resale. ;D

Chapter 1: Memories

Memories were precious to him.

He had to scoff at that—it didn't even begin to encompass the truth. Memories weren't only imperative to his existence, but all he had left to remind him of who he was before all of this began; back when he was a child and the fate of the world did not rest on his shoulders.

However, he cherished all of the memories he had made along the way, and all of the _people _who he had come to call friends.

He had to stress that part. His friends had been _born_, not created, and they had _died_, not shut down.

_I suppose that was really only one friend in particular, _Seto thought in retrospect, _my very best friend._ And here his friend was now, lying completely lifeless in his arms amidst the piles of dolls surrounding them. _If only I could go back and live through this again. I would've stayed with him! I would've... _Here, Seto paused to let his tears fall. "Crow," he mumbled pathetically, "You promised we'd always be friends. Friends don't leave each other alone!"

The reverberations of Seto's cry echoed throughout the barren room of the abandoned dam, resounding within the heart of the young boy who had uttered it. If Sai had still been alive, she may have felt her heart break at the lonely sounds which resonated still.

It was too cruel. Why had he survived when countless others had not? What was the point of continuing to exist anymore? It was as if the universe knew all of his insecurities, and planned to attack each of them individually until his worst fears came to fruition. This he knew could not be the case, but would not surprise him if it were true.

He supposed he had gone insane from being alone. Sai often had to remind him that she was still with him, and wouldn't leave his side. This was often returned with a small smile that didn't touch his eyes.

Seto didn't want company. He wanted family, and a place to belong. _Maybe I would have that family still if I had appreciated what I had. Maybe I would have even noticed why Grandpa was getting sick, _he pondered morosely.

The closest thing he had had to a mother was PF, his Personal Frame. Like Crow, she hadn't been human, but she had been paternal and concerned for Seto's well-being. She had made him feel safe, perhaps even loved.

Seto held Crow's body tighter to his chest as he remembered abandoning PF after venturing out of the Train Station and Mall. It had been then that he had met Crow, and he began to feel slightly less alone. That was of course until Crow stole his locket, which held his grandfather's letter, PF's screw, and a miscellaneous stone the same shade of blue as the night sky. The same sky he had met Crow under, coincidentally. Seto grinned fondly at his memory of that night.

If PF was his mother, then Crow was his older brother. And Sai was... He turned to look at the ghost watching his movements at a respectful distance; who had stuck by him since their rendezvous at the Hotel.

"Seto," she soothed: her voice calm, "I hate to rush you, but if we don't hurry, then we won't be able to stop him."

Sai was his older sister, no doubt. She even looked like Crow to a certain degree. They could pass as siblings without much trouble. For the first time in awhile, Seto felt content. He no longer had the urge to rescue the silver-haired girl. To be honest, he didn't even care if the planet was destroyed. He was with his family, and that was all that mattered.

"Sai," he yawned, patting the space on the floor next to him, beckoning her over. Sai floated hesitantly toward the red head and "sat" where he instructed her to with the best of her ability.

"A human, a robot, and a ghost," Seto mused, "who would've thought it, huh?" As he repositioned Crow so that he lay between them, Seto curled up into a ball on the floor, his head resting in Crow's lap. He was—dare he say it—happy. He had no obligations anymore. There was nothing holding him back. He could finally sleep.

Nestling in this room of death was oddly comfortable for Seto, although he couldn't put his finger on the reason. However, bliss was just out of reach.

"Seto," Sai admonished, "we can't stay here. If we do, the entities will get us! And Shin will..." she trailed off when she noticed that Crow had opened his vibrant cat-like eyes, and was glaring at her. "Th-that isn't possible. Your battery ran out," she choked.

"If the identity cannot be confirmed, you will be eliminated," Crow replied, his voice no longer sounding even remotely human. He stood quickly and flipped away from the other two members of his so-called "family." Then, he began to strut toward them, occasionally gliding with one leg ahead of the other and his back hunched in defense.

Sai watched in horror as Seto remained where he had been just a moment before. His eyes were wide with fear and disbelief, his face contorted into an expression of absolute remorse. To think that his best friend was being controlled by Shin, who had probably hacked into his mainframe after he had remained immobile for an extended period of time; now that same man was using his body as a weapon against Seto to keep him from interfering further. That was low, even for him. If Sai were in Seto's position, she would feel betrayed. That is, if she could feel. Yet, just like Seto, she found herself immobile and glued to her current position. All she could think to do was scream.

"Seto, he's going to kill you if you just sit there!" Sai shrieked as Crow made his advance toward the red head.

As if entranced, Seto slowly regained his bearings. Crow made it over to him a moment after he stood, his exotic eyes commanding all attention. Seto couldn't believe what he was seeing, and practically fainted where he stood, his eyes clenched shut.

Unexpectedly, Crow reached out and caught him before he could fall. Experimentally, Seto blinked until his vision was clear. From beneath his long lashes, he viewed Crow in all of his glory, grinning from ear to ear.

"C-Crow," Seto gasped, his breath coming in rasps.

_How cute, _Sai thought uneasily, _he took his breath away._

"Seto," Crow acknowledged, his voice as silky-smooth as ever. Suddenly, his lips turned downward into a teasing frown. "Didn't your mother ever teach you any manners? You first."

"What?" Seto asked, honestly baffled. He had had this conversation with Crow the night they met, when they made that promise and...

"You're so cute when you're confused, human," mocked Crow as he leaned in and kissed Seto for the second time, leaving him irrevocably flustered.

And when Crow stole his first kiss. He remembered feeling just as confused then as he did now, and infinitely more embarrassed.

Somewhere between the spaces of conscious and subconscious, Seto heard Crow laugh and remark, "You're as human as they come."

"Of course I am," he had replied. _But so are you..._

Just then, Crow's image began to blur, and not just him, but everything else in his line of sight. Seto turned to where he remembered Sai had been to find that she was gone. Desperately afraid of losing his family and being alone once more, Seto flung himself onto Crow and held on for dear life.

In an instant, Crow had disappeared, and Seto snapped back into reality, courtesy of a rock being thrown his way.

"Ugh," Seto groaned as he looked toward the perpetrator of the crime in distaste. This feeling then faded into nothing.

"Don't 'Ugh' me! Didn't your mother ever teach you any manners?" This, of course came from the playfully devious Crow, who had just done a cartwheel off of the Mall's decrepit roof and landed on his feet in front of the fountain.

Seto pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. If this was to be his and Crow's first meeting (as it seemed from the surrounding theme park), then why would he still have his memories? Seto shook his head. It didn't matter. He had been given another chance, and he was going to take it.

"Crow," Seto beamed at his very best friend.

Crow visibly flinched, as if Seto had surprised him. "How do you know my name?"

Seto fumbled for an excuse, and then his gaze fell onto the Crow clip that Crow had always worn on his yellow scarf. "There," he pointed, the beam of his flashlight bathing the avian in a yellowish glow, "that's a Crow, isn't it?"

Crow followed Seto's flashlight to the pin on his chest, which rested directly over his heart. _He's the one Father told me about!_ Crow rejoiced internally. "Yeah; yeah, it is."

**Woot, the first chapter is done! :D The characters in this fic may be Out of Character simply because this is my first time writing Fragile Dreams, and need to get a feel for them. That being said, I would appreciate it if you could review and tell me what you liked, as well as what you'd like to see improvement on. Constructive criticism is also welcome. I plan on posting the second chapter sometime later this week, but it depends on the reader response to this one. And that's about it.**

**Thank you for reading. =^w^=**


	2. Warmth

Summary: One fateful night under the diamond-glazed sky, illuminated by the hardened but capricious moon, a pact was formed. The conspirators agreed to share a bond, without realizing its depths at the time. Now, with his locket returned and his mind cleared of distractions, Seto longs to plunge into his conscience for the answers he seeks... If that's the case, then why is Crow involved? AUish spinoff. Romance may ensue. Warning for OOCness.

Language: English.

Pairing: Crow and Seto.

Themes: Friendship and Hurt/Comfort (Subject to change).

Rating: T (Although the rating may change in the future).

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fragile Dreams or its characters. This tale is purely fan-made and is intended for entertainment purposes only. I also do not own any songs by well-known artists which may be featured in this chapter. ;D

Chapter 2: Warmth

Warmth was all he had ever wanted, all he had ever hoped for. By day, warmth enveloped him. He basked in it, permitting it to encompass him entirely, perhaps in an attempt to become sated, perhaps to have something for himself. By night, all of the warmth that had been absorbed by his _skin_ and _stored_ inside him melted away, and his despair grew into hatred, stirring inside of him—reminding him constantly of what he couldn't have, what would ultimately be taken away again and again—until every fiber of his being detested the mere mention of the night.

However, this sentiment was ironic in his view. As some_thing_ manmade—_artificial_ even—he wasn't exactly allowed such expression.

He assumed this was a flaw in his programming, as he felt more deeply than even some humans, although he tried not to acknowledge it or let it show through his complacent demeanor. To preserve his image would be to preserve his old way of life, to hold onto what little he had that was not stolen from him in his unforgiving life, from beneath the scrutinizing rays of both the moon and sun.

As cold as the moon had made him feel, it did not leave him in ruins. He wouldn't let it. The prosthetic human still had someone to live for. It wasn't until Crow's creator went to sleep one day after a tiresome bit of research that Crow lost faith.

It had happened slowly, unfolding like a dream. And indeed, that's what it appeared to be as Crow opened his vivid emerald-green eyes after another harsh, tormented night of restless sleep. His battery had charged overnight, but once he tipped his fuchsia-colored messenger hat upward and laid his eyes on the scene before him, he felt as if it were about to run out.

On the floor of Crow's bedroom lay his creator, his Father, as Crow had taken to calling him, lying on his stomach, his misty gray eyes clouded even more than usual, his silvery-blonde hair lying skewed to the side. His arm was outstretched, as if he had been trying desperately to reach Crow in his last moments of life.

This knowledge pained Crow even more than the look of utter pensiveness on his Father's face. To know that he had been in the same room as his Father during his final moments and was unable to comfort him or prevent it caused a morose jolt of guilt to worm its way throughout Crow's being, starting with his heart. Throughout the rest of his life, that guilt would eat away at him like an infection, leaving a gaping chasm where his heart should have been.

"Father," Crow muttered gravely as he dislodged himself from the wall where he had been plugged in. The boy crossed the room silently, his boot-clad feet barely scraping the floor's lavender tiles as he went. Reaching his one true parent at last, Crow knelt down and removed his hat in a gesture of mourning, revealing raven-colored locks which were now tinged with the orange and red of the dawn filtering in through his bedroom windows. Once again, the warmth embraced his form. But without his Father to enjoy it with, it just felt so wrong. "Father," he repeated, the tone of his voice shaking with grief, "please, don't leave me. I'll never be the same without you! I'll...I'll...!" he crowed, in the same behavior of the animal for which he was named.

Not for the first time in his miserable existence, Crow cursed himself for not being able to cry. He'd never cried a day in his life, as he would later inform his best friend Seto. Still, that didn't keep him from wanting to. Even later on, Crow would discover that Seto cried enough for them both.

Speechless and empty, Crow held his Father's hand in his own, noting its frailty and slack. He was trying to memorize every detail for storage in his data bank, but was interrupted in his process by something sleek in the hand he was studying. Gently unfurling it, Crow's gaze dropped to the object. His eyes widened in wonder at a small stone, the color of which was sort of a melancholic fusion between azure and indigo. It reminded Crow of the night sky, when the powers of the sun had dwindled and the moon's strength overtook him.

More curious than anything, Crow pocketed the stone and continued his examination of the hand. Its color was comparable to that of rust, he noticed. His Father had always loved the sun even more than Crow, conducting experiments outside their home whenever he was able. Crow knew this was dangerous for him, but was often too preoccupied with his venerations of the time they spent together to offer any warning of possible dangers.

"The lines slope here," Crow spoke as he committed them to memory, "and here's the beginning of a knuckle...wait." Nestled between two fingers on his Father's hand was something so flashy he was surprised he hadn't noticed it first. Crow admired the skull ring with something close to reverence before slipping it off of his Father's finger and onto his own gloved one, where it fit snugly. Its lustrous gleam entranced him. He must have stood there for a full minute, too mesmerized to notice that his dark bedroom had been illuminated by an eerie red light, casting its glow off of the reflectors Crow kept on his walls to keep the warmth in his bedroom, as well as off of the ring he now sported.

Turning with gusto toward his windows, he noticed that the light was not emanating from the sun, as he had thought, but from a pillar which was now disappearing into the sky near the Fun Park.

_What the...?_ Crow mused, his mind full of possibilities. This was exactly what he needed; to break his ties with those he held dear and begin life anew. If anyone asked, he would tell them he had forgotten his roots and was trying to find his way. That way, he wouldn't have any obligations, and maybe he really could forget.

In his haste to leave his old life behind, Crow only grabbed what he could carry with him: a bronze tea kettle, some of his Father's medallions, his yellow scarf with the Crow pin attached, his copy of _Pirate Isle_ and his trademark messenger hat. With one final sweeping glance at his room and its new inhabitant, Crow bowed his head out of courtesy and closed the door. From there, he edged toward the entrance of his home, stepped over the foyer, and locked the door without looking back.

The stillness of the air outside had been Crow's initial shock. Not even the wind dared to rustle the seas of grass along this prairie, let alone living creatures. After a moment or two, Crow began to walk toward the direction of the Fun Park, his spirits none-too-high. Removing the strange blue stone from his pocket, his face contorted into a frown. He held it to the sun as he walked, trying to make some sense of it. The sun's rays shone through the stone, casting pale, luminescent cerulean hues across Crow's face in the process.

He knew he'd seen it somewhere. The question was, where?

Then it hit him. From that moment on, he could never outrun his past. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to try. Crow's steady gait broke into a full-blown sprint as he remembered what he had tried so desperately to forget. "The Glass Cage Project," he panted, shaking his head as he did so, "it must have begun again."

As Crow continued to speed toward the Fun Park in the hope of finding survivors, suppressed memories began to formulate in the back of his mind, persisting and prodding his conscience as he resisted the urge to let them overtake him, and remember nothing but sunshine. Against his efforts, one or two seeped through.

-Begin Flashback-

"Can you feel it?"

Crow grunted in response. He would not allow this man the satisfaction of seeing him squirm, no matter how much he wanted to break away from this dark, depressing room with its faded wall patterns and its grubby, half-assed lighting. Crow could've focused on the more belligerent aspects of the room in which he was being held captive, but he was trying to be optimistic.

The man whom had posed the question clicked his tongue impatiently. "Not in the mood, eh? We'll just have to fix that." With a flick of his wrist, he turned the dial up on the machine Crow was hooked up to, simultaneously sending tendrils of electricity throughout Crow's body. He grimaced, but refused to scream. Even in a situation like this, he still had his pride. His Father would be ashamed of him if he skimped out now. Crow was a machine, after all. He was meant to be used as such. Giving him too much leverage would be the equivalent of treating him as an equal, which he wasn't.

"Haa...haa..." Crow laughed, though it came out as more of a pant. "You think you can hurt me with that? I don't know pain."

"The look on your face says otherwise," countered the man who Crow could now see was wearing a lab coat of some sort, and had an empty coffee cup sitting prettily on his desk, near his workspace. The man noticed this, and asked, "Thirsty, are you? I'll have to get my secretary to fill me up, then." The smile on this man's face did not touch his eyes, and his tone was all but comforting.

"It looks like your pain receptors are still too high," commented the man, scrutinizing Crow for being too weak. He bent down and whispered into his ear, "You're by far the most human of any dolls we've created, and the only one with a mind of their own. So, with near-human intelligence, you should be able to tell me this: How on earth are we supposed to use you for The Project if you show such little promise?"

Crow's pride deflated with each word this man delivered to his ears, although he tried his best to ignore them. It was like this every time. He tried his best to be defiant, but he always succumbed. The man above him was being more condescending than was necessary, and somehow Crow's dignity took a blow from his words. As if that wasn't enough, the creep had begun to stroke Crow's thighs in anticipation for his response. If he weren't restrained to the table, he'd go off in a rage, leaving no part of this disgusting man intact.

"Then don't use me," Crow spat in a final attempt at scorn, hoping the man would get the hint and leave him be. "There are plenty of other _dolls_ at your disposal." Crow stressed the word 'dolls,' because it deeply offended him. Although he may not be human, he was still alive...wasn't he?

"Ah, ah, ah," the man admonished, "wrong answer."

As the voltage was once again increased, Crow contemplated his existence, and whether or not he actually meant anything to anyone. There was Father, of course, but Crow wondered just how true his love was. After all, Father was the one who had created Crow, and had done so for his use in the Glass Cage Project. As distress and torment sped through his nervous system, the man above him took joy in watching his reactions. He had pressed himself against the operating table in order to get a better look.

Crow turned his head toward the scientist, his face a grimace. "You're a sick, twisted, bastard, and I hope your pathetic life ends quickly," Crow jeered. "In truth, I feel sorry for you. You're going to die while I live on. My time is unlimited. Yours shortens by the second."

Rather than be angry at Crow's words, the scientist turned down the voltage on the machine. He grasped Crow's perspiring face between his hands before muttering, "Good, Crow; very good. Work with the anger. Give yourself over to it: destroy all enemies of Glass Cage. But before you do, you must learn to suppress your emotions. They get in the way." The scientist then unfastened Crow's bindings, and turned to exit the examination room. "See you next week, Crow," called the scientist cheerfully as he left the room to ask his secretary for more coffee.

Crow felt violated. But then again, he did every week.

...

When Crow arrived at his home that day after his weekly examination, his Father was in his lab, waiting for him. "How did it go?" Father asked him when Crow wandered in.

"Humph," Crow replied. His Father took this reply to mean that the tests were as disastrous as usual.

Father sighed before calling out to his son. Crow turned and was embraced by the older man. After being treated so badly be the examiner, this gesture was pleasant. But the moment that Crow returned the embrace, his Father shied away from his son's touch. Instead, he held Crow by the shoulders and looked into his wide, deep-green eyes, which held onto every word as he spoke.

"I've never lied to you, son, and I never will. This may seem like a lot to deal with now, but through your training you'll become harder, better, faster, stronger. One day, you will be loved." This seemed to devastate Crow, because he assumed that he was already loved by his Father. Father noticed, of course, and added, "I cannot give you the love you deserve until you deserve it. But if it's any consolation, you'll know the person when you find them. Your first meeting will have you at odds with them, and that, my boy, is the mark of true, unconditional love. They will touch your heart in unexpected ways, and at that time, you will be loved as never before." Here, Crow looked down at his feet, both consoled and hurt by his Father's curtness. "Now come on, wipe that look off of your face. It's alright, it's alright," he cooed as he let Crow watch him perform an experiment.

From that moment on, Crow doubted he would ever truly trust humans again, let alone fall in love with one.

-End Flashback-

It turned out he was wrong on both counts.

As Crow approached the clearing to the Fun Park, he heard the soft sounds of boots treading the earth. Picking up on this, he leapt onto the roof of the Mall—which had been out of use for ages—and scanned the area below for any signs of life. His cat-like gaze fell to a red-head in an enormous baby blue overcoat wandering around the Fun Park grounds. It wasn't exactly hard to miss him; his blood-red hair stood out like a sore thumb against the dark black and blue shades of the Fun Park at night.

Two things then occurred to Crow. He had not only been traveling the entire day to find this boy, but had also referred to the theme park as a bruise. For this boy's trouble and impertinence, Crow decided to have some fun with him. To attract the boy's attention, Crow picked up a medium-sized pebble, yelled "Tally ho!" and threw it at him in a flurry of glee.

The boy then promptly turned to face Crow with a scowl after making some incoherent noise which sounded to Crow like "Ugh!"

And so, he did the only sane thing a cyborg could do. He somersaulted off of the Mall roof after mocking the boy and questioning his upbringing. Crow then landed in front of the boy on his feet. A debonair performance, it was worth about a nine out of ten.

And it was only going to get better.

The boy seemed to recognize him, and addressed him by name. The sound of the other boy's voice startled Crow. It was soft, delicate, and utterly feminine. His face appeared feminine, as well—his skin was pale, his face was small, his lips were full and pink, and his eyes were the loveliest, deepest shade of amethyst Crow had ever laid eyes upon—though Crow was certain he was currently ogling a boy. This made it all the more fun.

Because he wanted an excuse to stare at the boy for even longer, he inquired, "How do you know my name?"

Crow watched as the boy fumbled for an answer, liking his circumstances even more with every passing second. At last, the boy pointed the beam of the flashlight he was holding at Crow's scarf, and a warmth began to spread itself throughout Crow, beginning in the hole where his heart would have been had he been alive.

He heard the red-head ask, "There—that's a Crow, isn't it?"

Crow looked to his pin, and then back at the boy with a grin on his face. Perhaps what he had longed for all this time had not been warmth; perhaps Crow—the doll—had mistaken warmth for the human emotion called love. He was sure of it once he replied, "Yeah; yeah, it is."

**Yay, I'm happy. :D Sort of. This chapter is over 3,000 words, so I'm happy, but I'm disappointed that I made everyone wait so long for this chapter to be released, when I said it would be out sooner, rather than later. That **_**is **_**what I thought, but I was trying to write Chapters 1 and 2 in a similar style. Chapter 1 is Seto's life up until meeting Crow, and Chapter 2 is Crow's life up until meeting Seto. I wanted their meeting to feel natural when I wrote it, but I was having a hard time getting there, because I wanted Crow's past to be more detailed than Seto's. This is because Crow is somewhat of a mystery, and Seto is...not, to say the least. Chapter 3 is when the romance will ensue, because CrowxSeto is an adorable pairing and needs more of a fandom than it currently has. :P Anyway, you may have noticed that Crow did not stop at the Hotel and meet his "friend" before coming to meet Seto at the Fun Park. The reason is simple—this fic will unfold differently than the game. I'm hoping that means that Crow won't die.**

**Crow: You're **_**hoping? **_**What kind of fan are you?**

**Me: A Crow fangirl. And a yaoi fangirl. And a bunch of other things I wouldn't have time to explain to you. I haven't worked it all out yet, either, so be patient.**

**Crow: I don't trust you.**

**Me: What a surprise. Oh, free internet brownies go to anyone who noticed the memory reference—and by that I mean a reference to a memory in the game. I was trying to make it kind of obvious, because when I first wrote out this chapter, it was way too subtle. O.o**

**Please review and tell me what you thought! Suggestions for improvement are also welcome and encouraged—just please have reason for your comments, and I'm a happy camper. And that's all.**

**Thank you very much for reading~ \\(^o^)/**


End file.
